Ironing board attachment



May 29, 1934. TQLY IRONING BOARD ATTACHMENT Filed Aug. 14, 1955 w 8 J2 2 4 3 5 n... m H. 3

R Y Ym MM mm Tw T WI A w l. Q

Patented May 29, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE IRONING BOARD ATTACHMENT Louie Toly, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application August 14, 1933, Serial No. 685,140

'7 Claims.

The object of my invention is to provide a convenient fixture for permanent attachment to an ironing board by which the fiexible electrical conducting cord is kept constantly lifted free from the work on the board and out of the way of the hand of the operator, while at the same time the iron may be moved freely in all directions over the entire surface of the board against a negligible resistance.

An object of my invention is to provide an attachment of the character described which may be folded flat against the board without disconnecting or loosening any parts, so as not to impede the recession of permanently mounted or folding boards into the wall pockets customarily provided for them.

The objects and advantages of my improved attachment may best be described in connection with the attached drawing, in which:-

Fig. 1 is a face elevation of the entire device;

Fig. 2 is a cross section on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlargement, partly in elevation and partly in section, of the folding standard generally indicated at 11 in Fig. 1, and

Fig. 4 is an enlargement, in cross section, of the latch generally indicated at 14 in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing and particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, indicates a portion of one end of any ironing board, this being preferably the end adjacent the wall in which the electrical connection is made and necessarily this end if the board is permanently mounted in the wall. 11 is a standard affixed to the board and arranged to fold as will be described; 12 is a gimbal shaft pivoted on the standard to revolve in a plane parallel to the board; 13 is a yoke assembly pivotally mounted on the ends of shaft 12, and 14 is a latch arranged to lock the yoke in an 40 upright position.

Referring now to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the standard 11 consists first of a base attached to the board by screws 21 and a riser 22 which is shown as cylindrical but may be of other section, as 45 square, if preferred. This riser is slotted as at 23 and is also drilled to receive a pivot pin 24. An extension piece 25 is provided with a tongue 26 fitting the slot and drilled to receive the pin 24, which should fit tightly in either the tongue or the pieces forming the sides of the slot, to prevent end movement of the pin. The upper end 27 of the extension piece is reduced in diameter where it passes through gimbal shaft 12 and is threaded and provided with a cap nut 28, the pivot bearing thus formed being so fitted that the shaft may revolve freely on the pivot 2'7 without wobbling.

The upper end of the extension piece may be round or it may be flattened on opposite sides as indicated at 29. If these fiats are provided a spring clip 30 is placed beneath the cap nut 28 with its ends bearing on the flattened portions. This clip should be of such stiffness as to impose a limited resistance to the pivotal movement of shaft 12 on the reduced portion 27 and to tend to return the shaft to alignment with the fiat faces, which should be so located as to stand at right angles to the longitudinal center line of the board.

Around the extension piece 25 and the riser 22 is slidingly fitted a sleeve 31, which is provided with a finger grip 32, in the form of opposed tongues or of a fiange as preferred, this sleeve being urged downwardly by an open coil spring 33 bearing against a shoulder 34. This sleeve may be made heavy enough to be urged downwardly by its own weight and the spring dispensed with. With the sleeve extended to the downward position shown in Fig. 1 it surrounds the riser 22 and the lower end of the extension piece 25 and holds them in axial alignment, while if the sleeve be retracted to the position shown in Fig. 3 the extension piece is free to pivot on the pin 24 and may be folded down to a position parallel with the board.

The yoke 13 consists of arms 35-35 provided with fixed or integral weights 36-36 of such mass as to substantially overbalance the weight of the upward extensions from the yoke about to be described and to return them to an upright position. The ends of the gimbal shaft 12 are passed through the arms and retained in position by nuts 37-37 or equivalent means, the bearings thus formed being fitted to permit free rotation of the arms around the shaft without wobbling or material end movement. The arms are connected to form a yoke by the cross bar 38 which is provided centrally with a boss 39 to which is attached a tube 40. The length of this tube may be more or less half the length of the ironing board.

Through the tube 40 is passed an insulated electrical conductor 41 extending below the cross bar 38 and out of the yoke as at 42 for a sufficient distance to permit a removable two-contact plug 43 to be inserted in any conveniently placed electrical receptacle not shown. If the board to which the attachment is fitted is permanently mounted in the wall and the receptacle is within this mounting, the length of this extension may be such that the plug 43 may remain permanently in the receptacle.

The upper end of the conductor 41 is provided with a plug 44 adapted to fit whatever type of electric iron is to be used, and this end is extended as at 45 to a length more or less equal to the length of the tube 40. The combined length of the tube and of the extension 45 should be such that when the iron is placed at the extremity of the board opposite the end to which the attachment is fixed, the tube 40 will be drawn down to a position somewhat above a line parallel to the board and passing through the gimbal shaft 12.

The cross bar 38 is provided with the latch generally indicated at 14 and detailed in Fig. 4. This latch consists of a stud having a rounded end adapted to enter a socket 51 on the upper center line of the gimbal shaft 12, this stud being slidingly fitted into a boss 52 extended downwardly from cross bar 38, being urged toward the shaft by a coil spring 53, and being provided at its upper end with a thumb nut 54. The upper end of the stud may be threaded for a sufiicient distance to permit the screwing down of the nut to hold the stud out of engagement with socket 51.

The operation of the above described device is as follows. The ironing board being horizontally disposed and supported in any suitable manner, the electric iron is attached to the plug 44 and the extension piece 25 is raised to a vertical position, allowing the sleeve 31 to move downward to the position shown in Fig. 1 in which the folding joint is locked. If the lengths of the tube 40 and the conductor extension 45 are properly proportioned, a movement of the iron to a position adjacent the base 20 will allow the tube to assume a substantially vertical position (to which it is urged by the weights 3636) with the conductor hanging down beside it.

The latch 14, should now be released and held in an open position by screwing down nut 54, allowing the yoke 13 to freely swivel on the gimbal shaft 12. The iron may then be moved to the various positions on the board required in its normal operation, longitudinal movement of the iron being permitted by the swivelling of the yoke on the gimbal shaft, while such lateral movement as is not permitted by the flexibility of the conductor extension 45 will be permitted by the swivelling of the gimbal shaft on the upper end 2'7 of extension piece 25, this movement being required only when the iron is in a position adjacent the outer end of the board.

In all operating positions of the iron the conductor 45 is held away from the work by the weights 36-36 which gently urge the tube 40 toward the assumption of an upright position without appreciably impeding the free movement of the iron in any direction.

When the work is completed the iron is detached and the yoke swivelled on the gimbal shaft until stud 50 enters socket 51, thus aligning tube 40 with extension piece 25. The sleeve 31 is then lifted to the position shown in Fig. 3 and the entire assembly folded down to rest on the board or to a position adjacent and parallel to it. In

this position a permanently attached board may be folded back into a wall pocket without disturbing the attachment and without even removing plug 43 from its receptacle if the latter is located within the pocket.

I claim as my invention:

1. An ironing board attachment, comprising: a standard adapted to be affixed to said board; a horizontal shaft supported from said standard; a yoke pivoted on the ends of said shaft to swing in a vertical plane; a substantially rigid tube projected upwardly from said yoke; a flexible electrical conductor within said tube and projecting therefrom at each end; means at the lower end of said conductor for connecting said conductor to an electric power circuit; means at the upper end of said conductor for connecting said conductor to an electrically heated iron, and weights afixed to the arms of said yoke and adapted to counterbalance the weight of said tube and said conductor.

2. A device substantially as and for the purpose set forth in claim 1, in which said horizo. shaft is pivotally mounted on said standard to revolve in a horizontal plane.

3. A device substantially as and for the purpose set forth in claim 1, in which said horizontal shaft is pivotally mounted on said standard to revolve in a horizontal plane and including a flattened portion on said standard and a spring attached to said shaft and engaging said fiattened portion .to gently resist the pivotal movement of said shaft on said standard.

4. A device substantially as and for the purpose set forth in claim 1, in which said standard is hinged at a medial point to permit swinging movement of the upper portion of said standard in a vertical plane, and including means for locking the upper and lower portions in longitudinal alignment.

5. A device substantially as and for the purpose set forth in claim 1, in which said standard is hinged at a medial point to permit swinging movement to the upper portion of said standard in a vertical plane, and including a sleeve surrounding said standard and adapted to lock the upper and lower portions thereof in vertical alignment, a finger grip for moving said sleeve longitudinally of said standard to unlock and permit relative movement of the upper and lower portions thereof, and means for urging said sleeve toward its locking position.

6. A device substantially as and for the purpose set forth in claim 1, including means for locking said yoke to said shaft when said yoke is 139 in a substantially vertical position.

'7. A device substantially as and for the purpose set forth in claim 1, including means for locking said yoke to said shaft when said yoke is in a substantially vertical position, said means to said socket and means for withdrawing said stud from said socket. no

LOUIE TOLY. 

